This new outlet is located at SM Center Las Piñas, a shopping mall owned by SM Prime Holdings, located along Alabang-Zapote Road, Pamplona, Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines.

It will be the first to offer Khun Thai Tea Eats, a menu featuring currently-offered Thai-style snacks like Thai Tea Toast, as well as a range of authentic Thai recipes such as Thai Basil Rice, Thai Flying Saucer and Thai Roasted Chicken Rice.

Items on the menu will be priced from an affordable P60 onwards, making it attractive to both locals and tourists. Students in uniform and youths with valid student cards will also receive a special discounted student price.

The outlet is estimated to become operational over the first two weeks of January 2018.

Star City Outlet Closes, 10 Year Master Franchise On The Horizon

This news is the latest of a series of positive steps forward in the franchise’s expansion plans, said Khun Thai Tea LLP co-founder Mr. Jeremy Lee. The Singapore-based company holds global rights to marketing the Khun Thai Tea brand.

They had in recent months announced plans for the second Asian franchises outside of the Philippines, and Singapore’s first outlet. They are now inked to their first regional Master Franchise agreement spanning Indonesia and Malaysia, which could see Khun Thai Tea outlets springing up all over Indonesia and Malaysia “very soon”.

However, Mr. Lee added, “Fans of Khun Thai Tea may be disappointed to know that we have decided to close our Khun Thai Tea outlet located at Star City Amusement Park, Manila, due to irregular hours caused by ongoing renovation works in the park.”

To get their fix of Khun Thai Tea’s signature Thai ice black tea and other Thai-themed snacks beverages, Mr. Lee suggests that fans head to the outlets located at SM Mall of Asia, Bay City, Pasay, and MegaMall Manila in Ortigas, and of course, SM Center Las Piñas.”

The franchise began in 1955 with Auntie Marlee, a pushcart proprietor in one of Bangkok’s most celebrated dining and nightlife streets, Sukhumvit Soi 11. There, she created Khun Thai Tea’s Thai ice black tea recipe, also called “cha-yen” in Thai.

Her pushcart soon came to be Sukhumvit Soi 11’s best-held secret as expats, revellers, tourists and locals stumbled across Auntie Marlee’s refreshing recipe in search of the street’s more famous bars, restaurants and clubs.

As Auntie Marlee began getting on in her years however, she started searching for successors to carry on her pushcart’s legacy. In 2016, her search finally bore fruit in the form of Filipino local Nancy Padilla, who named her franchise Khun (“Respect”), as tribute to Auntie Marlee.

And so in June 2016, SM Mall of Asia, located in Manila, Philippines, became home to the first Khun Thai Tea outlet to reproduce Auntie Marlee’s secret Thai ice black tea recipe. Knowledge of the recipe had formerly been restricted to Auntie Marlee’s family members.

Two more Khun Thai Tea outlets soon followed: one at Star City Amusement Park, Manila, Star Parks Corporation Roxas Boulevard, and another at MegaMall Manila, in Metro Manila’s bustling Ortigas business district.

Not long after, Khun Thai Tea LLP, headquartered in Singapore, was appointed to manage global rights for the brand.

Said Mr. Lee at the time, “The success of Khun Thai Tea in the capital city of Philippines has confirmed the potential of an Asia-wide market for our unique brand of Thai ice black tea. We are now planning for rapid expansion across Asia and will strive to bring a Khun Thai Tea branch to every Asian shopping mall.”

About Khun Thai Tea LLP

Khun Thai Tea LLP holds global franchise rights for Khun Thai Tea, a recognised premium franchised Thai Ice Black Tea brand. The company aims to bring the authentic taste of traditional Thai iced-tea, made from Auntie Marlee’s closely- guarded 61 year old secret family recipe, to cities all around the world, beginning with Asia.